i-SECT magazine is the definitive resource for all students considering international study in Science, Engineering, Computing or Technology. This is a great opportunity to be featured alongside experts in the field and will make an impressive addition to your portfolio! To get involved please email Vivienne Egan, i-studentadvisor Editor, at vivienne.e@i-studentgroup.com by Friday 20 January.

View the 2011 edition of i-SECT here.

We’re proud to announce the release of our latest issue of i-LASH, which explores courses in the Liberal Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities across the globe.

The LASH subject areas are vast and offer the opportunity to study a wide range of different subjects, whether this is within a liberal arts degree or in a more specialised programme. This issue has plenty of interesting articles about studying some of the popular subjects within these areas, and will give you an idea of what types of courses are available in different countries around the world. You can find articles about studying theology in New Zealand, politics in the UK or sociology in the USA, to name just a few!

We’d like to say thank you to all of our contributors for their time and effort, and their help in creating this guide. Their expertise and experience are invaluable, and here they share their knowledge with you.

We hope that you enjoy reading this guide. If you have any comments or suggestions for the next issue, or are interested in contributing to any of the i-studentadvisor resources, please contact us at editorial@i-studentgroup.com

And don’t forget, there are more articles, plus country-specific information about visas, fees and more, on the i-studentadvisor website.

Controversy has arisen this week after the league-topping University of Cambridge warned its interviewers not to shake students’ hands. Advisors fear that the traditional British gesture may offend students from certain cultural backgrounds, due to the physical contact involved. Whilst some academics are claiming this to be an overreaction, it does open up an avenue of thought – should residents of the UK be more mindful of other cultures’ manners and behaviours?

The UK has more than doubled its intake of students from overseas in the last decade, taking multiculturalism to a whole new level. With so many cultures merging, everyone, from those born in the UK, to immigrants, to those temporarily studying in the country, may find themselves coming across cross-cultural differences in behaviour.

As an international student, you may already be aware of British communicative rituals or cultural ‘norms’, many of which will also be conventional in your country of origin. Alongside the handshake is the old-age custom of queuing, which may seem redundant to people in other parts of the world. Amongst dozens of British gestures is the ‘thumbs up’, the ‘finger’, the ’shrug’, and the peace/’V’ sign, all of which can be prone to misinterpretation when perceived by other cultures. Stereotypically, British people also tend to avoid close physical contact, in comparison to other European countries, like Spain and Italy.

However, in others’ eyes, British people could be perceived as too forward: Cambridge University ruled against the handshake in light of certain religious beliefs. Orthodox Jews and some Muslim women, for instance, may not like to be touched by those of the opposite sex. Subsequently, the handshake could potentially cause such recipients to feel uncomfortable.

Amongst those cultures who differ to the UK in communication style is Japan. In Japan, generally speaking, it’s customary to hold less eye contact with your conversational partner than in the west. The Japanese also value prolonged silence in conversational contexts, whilst other cultures, including the British, may find it uncomfortable. But perhaps their most complex set of cultural specific behaviours are evident in a dining context. Drink pouring and serving rituals are abundant around a Japanese dining table, but may not be understood elsewhere.

Some communicative behaviours that are standard in Britain may even offend some cultures. The ‘thumbs up’ gesture is actually an obscenity in other parts of the world, as is the giving the ‘a-ok’ sign with your index finger and thumb. The list of cross-cultural behavioural differences is enough to publish whole books on (and there are indeed, many available).

However, it’s also important to consider that these affiliated behaviours are simply ‘atypical’ of a nation or religious group. Perhaps, judging a person’s behaviour by their cultural background alone is typecasting, and in itself, an offense. This presents somewhat of a paradox to someone trying to generate pleasant relationships with everyone – hence why Cambridge University advised its interviewers to avoid handshaking with ALL students. The university advised its interviewers that “there is a certain amount of cultural sensitivity relating to handshakes… Suitable body language conveys welcome just as well.”

However, in mind of everything discussed, does such thing as ’suitable’ body language really exist? Every aspect of a person’s behaviour could be criticised as being contradictory, unusual, or even rude to those outside their particular culture. Perhaps it seems more reasonable to, rather than banning certain behaviours, stay mindful and aware of other people’s values and conventions. Instead of judging people as uncooperative or even rude by their manners and conventions, perhaps consider that their way of doing things may just be different to ours, whether due to cultural reasons, or something else entirely.

As more and more students are having to change their names on Facebook in fear of colleges and universities using the sites to ‘spy’ on the potential applicants, it begs the questions: “How much information is too much information?” and “Should you really be posting information about yourself, you wouldn’t want your mother to see?”

24% of admissions officers admitted in a recent survey by Kaplan Test Prep that they had viewed publicly available pages to find out more about a student, and 20% said that they have used Google for the same reasons.

The report showed that a staggering 12% said that what they found had had a negative effect on the chance of admission, with discoveries of underage drinking, vulgarity in blogs and in some cases, plagiarism.

It is clear that a student’s online reputation can influence an admissions representatives decision – so what can schools do to advise their students against posting such information online?

Schools in the USA are introducing seminars in to their assemblies expressing the risks involved with posting information that may hinder your chances of getting into a university or college. Students as young as 8 and 9 in the 5^th grade are being advised on the potential ramifications of their actions online.

Other methods include asking students to Google themselves to see what they can find. The results intended to shock the students into changing their behaviour and practices when using Facebook, Twitter and personal blogs.

Students are also using their initiative (perhaps even cunning) to deter college admissions representatives away from their online lifestyle, with changing their names and introducing pseudonyms  so they’re unsearchable to anyone outside of their social circle.

The problem with using such methods to ‘suss-out’ students behaviour outside of the classroom, is that there are technically no official guidelines being used by institutions governing how it should factor into the admissions equation. This is likely to remain uncertain until there are clear legal guidelines put in place. And as these online searches and check-ups become more popular with the use of TargetX, a technology programme integrating Facebook and Twitter designed for admissions offices only, more and more universities are turning to them to judge whether students are actually who they say they are.

David Hawkins, the director of public policy and Research for the National Association for College and Admission Counseling, backed the institutions use of social network sites saying “Colleges can’t just ignore something that has been brought to their attention”. However he also recommended that there be a “policy in place on the use of information that bubbles up through these very public sites”.

Are you a student looking to apply to university/college? Are you worried how your online persona could affect your admission opportunities?

Do you censor information you publish online about yourself to prevent this from happening? What methods do you use?

Flinders University, established in 1966, enjoys a well-deserved reputation for excellence. The university welcomes international students, attracting students from over 100 countries.

Interested? Want to find out more? Download the Flinders app and get all of this:

• Learn more about Flinders University and South Australia
• Browse through course information – undergraduate and postgraduate
• Discover entertainment, sport and sightseeing in Adelaide
• Navigate through Adelaide with campus and city maps
• Complete the step by step international student application checklist
• Check out videos, photo galleries and student testimonials
• Stay up to date with the latest news and events

Other features include information about getting around Adelaide and where to eat, plus local weather forecasts. Users will also be able to use the app to join Flinders on Facebook and Twitter. All this for free.

Louise Singleton, head of design here at i-studentgroup, and part of the team who created the app says: “This app is great for international students who want to know more about Flinders University. There’s so much content and it’s easy to use, allowing users to have all the information they need to know about Flinders and Adelaide at their fingertips.”

Flinders University says: “Our app is unique in its structure and rich interactive content, and will be an instrumental tool in the promotion of our university to the international student market. It has the potential to enhance and revolutionise the Flinders experience for prospective and current students.”

To download the Android app, visit the Android Market here.

Have you downloaded the Flinders app? Tell us what you think in the comments below!

The system measures the scientific performance of 500 major universities across the globe and ranks them accordingly. Having been recognised for its objective methodology, it may prove to be a useful alternative to ranking systems such as The Times Higher Education.

Specifically, it ranks universities by their scientific impact and number of collaborations. For instance, it looks at the average number of citations of university publications and the proportion of publications that have been coauthored with other institutions. Leiden University claims these methods are more ‘transparent’ than those used in other, more popular ranking systems, that largely base their figures on opinion surveys.

The system this year has improved in a number of ways. For instance, it offers universities the possibility to exclude non-English speaking language publications from the research, as these publications will have a smaller readership and receive fewer citations. It’s hoped such changes will produce fairer, more objective results.

Interestingly, eighteen of the top twenty universities are American institutions, according to this system. The top university worldwide is Massachusetts Institute of Technology, followed by Princeton and Harvard. Switzerland’s École Polytecnique and ETH Zurich also feature in the top twenty. Cambridge was the top UK University at number 31.

Time will tell whether this updated system will prove more popular than the ever-growing list of competing rankings systems.

To earn the “golden ticket” to a life of free education, students will need to show their capability of thriving in various challenges that become increasingly difficult the more students’ progress through the competition. Students are expected to demonstrate qualities such as passion, commitment and intelligence.

The competition is open to all domestic and European undergraduates who have been accepted on a firm basis to study at Cardiff.

The first of the series of challenges will be online with the last stages bringing together a group of finalists to Cardiff University for a live challenge. Students who reach the finals will all win a scholarship to put towards their undergraduate tuition fees.

Director of strategic development, Louise Casella, said that the competition offers “fantastic opportunity to an exceptional student who can demonstrate the qualities which we seek in our applicants and which we nurture in our students”.

The scheme – which has been criticised by some academics branding it a “gimmick” – comes at a time when students are struggling to come to terms with the new tuition fee structure in the UK. Dr Philip Dixon, director of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers expressed his concerns for the state of the higher education system that see’s “gimmicks like this [having] to be offered by our universities”.

Students can now register to receive the first clue of the challenge.

Student unions have expressed concern, believing that the government’s decision to increase the 2012 fees to £9,000 has deterred potential applicants. It’s thought that the students who’ve missed out are those from less privileged backgrounds. Applications from mature students, for instance, are down by one-fifth.

More encouragingly, the number of applicants from outside the EU is up by 11.8%, making the overall fall in applications less dramatic and securing the UK’s cultural diversity for the near future.

UCAS remains optimistic, claiming that universities can expect a ‘possible late surge’ in applications when the January deadline approaches. They’ve also recognised that application rates in 2010 were unusually high in anticipation of the increased fees, and may not be valid for comparison. In fact, this year’s figures are similar to those for 2009, suggesting higher education is still as popular as ever.

David Willetts, the universities minister, hopes to reassure students worldwide, affirming that “going to university depends on ability, not the ability to pay… there will be more financial support for those from poorer families and everyone will make lower loan repayments than they do now once they are in well paid jobs.”

The Guardian newspaper has teamed up with Ones to Watch – a website showcasing the best UK student journalism – to launch a writing competition for UK undergraduate or postgraduate students.

The competition hopes to explore the issue of how the rise in tuition fees next year will impact students, their parents and the institutions. It will explore the debate about whether the student will become a consumer, and The Guardian thinks who better to ask than the students themselves!

The competition asks students to write a 600-word blog answering the question: “With fees tripling to £9,000 a year at most universities, is it inevitable that the student will become a consumer?”

The deadline for submissions is Sunday December 4th at 5PM (UK time) and the competition is open to any current UK undergraduate or postgraduate student.

The best entry will be published on Education Guardian’s Mortarboard Blog and on Ones to Watch.

The Guardian says: “We are open to any interpretation of the question, but are looking for something original, engaging and well-researched, that is written clearly and accurately.”

More details and information on entering can be found here: www.guardian.co.uk/education/mortarboard/2011/nov/30/students-higher-education

This issue is full of helpful articles about learning English overseas, along with hints and tips about finding a course that is right for you. English as a Second Language courses vary, and are offered at a wide range of overseas institutions. Hopefully after reading this guide you will have an idea of where might be the best place for you to study – be it in sunny Australia, the historical UK, or one of the other fantastic and exciting countries featured in this guide.

Once you have read through this guide and have an idea of where you would like to study, head over to our Country pages to find out all about fees, visas and more in your chosen country.

As always, we’d like to thank all of our contributors who have shared their experience and advice in this issue of i-ESL.

We always love to hear feedback from our readers, so please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any comments or suggestions – please email us at editorial@i-studentgroup.com

We hope you enjoy reading this issue of i-ESL. Remember, you can find all of our other 2011 subject guides through the Subjects page.